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For the Boers, hunting was forbidden during the first phase of the war; but during the guerilla phase (Sept 1900 - May 1902) it was widely practised. See Fransjohan Pretorius'"Life on Commando during the Anglo Boer War 1899-1902" pp 41, 42, 117.

A day's "bag".

Photograph by Lieutenant C. Alexander, "C" Company, 1st Bn. Scots Guards.




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Neville,
What a great and interesting photo! Thanks very much for posting it! It looks as though C Company ate well that night.

Rob,
It makes sense that the Boers wouldn't have wanted to give their positions away through hunting, and perhaps they were concerned about ammunition too. Thanks for the suggested reading! I look forward to it.

Fransjohan Pretorius' "Life on Commando during the Anglo Boer War 1899-1902" is compelling reading and I recommend it unreservedly. It's out of print, so 2nd hand copies go for a lot more than the original price when new.

Neville, I wonder if your man was shooting juvenile cattle. Or am I missing some antelope clue? Surey an incident during a farm burning operation rather than hunting game?

I was going to say I need to edit my contribution to this thread but I do agree with Rob's analysis above.

Like mainechicken I have read numerous letters home and studied a few diaries. My recollection is that the wildlife was rarely mentioned and then usually in a negative way e.g. "loathsome snakes". Perhaps I need to re-read them.

PS the book Rob mentioned can be found for sale on eBay from £50 upwards.

Lots of soldier mention their baboon sightings. A few like Cooke in 5000 Miles with the Cheshire Yeomanry talk about hunting the animals, Jarvis in Half a Life refers to "an honorary member of their mess," a baboon they named Cronjé, and in a diary by Lt Mordaunt Vereker Le Poer Trench, 1st Bn the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (NAM 2006-07-29), there is a story about playing with a baby baboon. But the craziest story regarding baboons that I have seen is about the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. The attached comes from pps. 73-4 of AG Morris' edited A Canadian Mounted Rifleman at War and is confirmed in the papers of Albert E Hilder, Royal Canadian Dragoons and the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (Canada Library and Archives MG30-E339) (image attached)






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